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The UEFA Champions League will return next week!
Sixteen teams remain in Europe's premier continental club tournament, and the first round of knockout fixtures has thrown up some mouth-watering match-ups.
To kick us off next Tuesday, a rejuvenated Manchester United will face Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford, a game that is now much less cut-and-dried thanks to Neymar's injury.
Liverpool play Bayern Munich in a high-octane clash at Anfield on 20th February, while Juventus travel to Spain to face Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.
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Dark horses Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund will meet each other at Wembley next Wednesday.
Real Madrid have been the undisputed kings of Europe of late, winning 3 of the last four editions of the Champions League. No team apart from Barcelona and Juventus has come close to competing on the same level.
But this season seems to be a lot more unpredictable. With Zinedine Zidane, the mastermind of Real's hat-trick of titles, stepping down from his job last season, the Spanish giants have been thrown into chaos. Julen Lopetegui was a disaster, and no one is really betting on Santiago Solari to help them retain their title.
English clubs like Liverpool and Manchester City are now being favoured by many to lift the coveted prize. There's a very real possibility of seeing an unexpected winner this season.
Having said that, let's take a look at 5 of the most successful clubs in Champions League history:
#5 Barcelona (5 titles)
Barcelona may have overtaken Real Madrid to become the dominant team domestically in Spain in recent times, but the Los Blancos have always trumped their rivals in Europe.
Since the Champions League was only open to the league winners from each country until 1992, Barca made their first appearance in the competition only in 1959.
They reached the final the very next season but lost out to Benfica. Their first ever title surprisingly came only 31 years later, when they beat Sampdoria 1-0 in the final through a Ronald Koeman free kick.
After Pep Guardiola took over as manager, they went on to beat Manchester United in 2 finals in 3 years.
In 2015, they famously beat giants like City, PSG, Bayern and Juventus en route to the title that sealed their second treble. To date, they are the only Spanish team to have achieved that feat, and also the only club to have done it twice.
The Blaugrana seem to be running away with the league title this season, but the players have made it clear that the Champions League is their primary target. Valverde and his men will be eager to end Real's vice-like grip on the competition this year.
#4 Liverpool (5 titles)
Liverpool are the most successful English team in the history of the Champions League, having first won the European Cup in 1977 (they also won the UEFA Cup, or the Europa League, twice before that).
Their era of dominance in the 70's and 80's, both in England and in Europe, led to 4 European Cups in 8 years.
The last thirty-odd years have been hard on the Reds, having last won a league title in 1990. Their last trophy of any kind was the League Cup in 2012.
They did win the Champions League in 2005, coming back from 3-0 down at half time to beat AC Milan on penalties in Istanbul.
Paulo Maldini had scored for Milan inside a minute, with Hernan Crespo making it 3-0 with a brace, before Gerrard, Smicer and Alonso brought Liverpool back on level terms with 3 goals in 6 minutes.
Jurgen Klopp's Gegenpressing revolution has now restored some hope among the Anfield faithful that they can one day return to the heights they once occupied, with a UCL final appearance against Madrid last year a sign of their progress.
It remains to be seen whether Klopp will focus more on Europe, or on the Premier League this season, with Liverpool arguably having a better chance of winning the latter.
#3 Bayern Munich (5 titles)
Bayern Munich won the European Cup three times in a row between 1974 and 1976, one of only 3 clubs to have achieved that feat.
In 2013, they became the first German club to win the treble, beating domestic rivals Dortmund 2-1 in the final with goals from Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben.
In spite of dominating the Bundesliga for the better part of a decade, Bayern have been unable to replicate their continental success after that win at Wembley. In every single edition of the Champions League since, they've been eliminated by a Spanish club.
Their failings in Europe, and the relative success of Barcelona, Atletico and Real Madrid, have been a reflection of the Spanish rise to dominance.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like their fortunes will change this season either, with Bayern also struggling in the league. After their latest defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, the Munich giants have slipped down to 3rd in the table, trailing leaders Dortmund by 7 points.
They also face a tricky round-of-16 fixture against Liverpool. Given that Dortmund don't look like they'll slip up in the Bundesliga anytime soon, Niko Kovac and his men might now turn their full attention to the Champions League.
#2 AC Milan (7 titles)
The AC Milan side of the late 80's and 90's was a truly legendary one.
They won the Champions League in '89, '90 and '94 (capped off by a brilliant 4-0 win over Barca in the final), and then again in 2003 and 2007.
Milan then fell into a shocking collapse after winning the Serie A in 2011, finishing in 10th place in 2015.
The Chinese takeover in 2016 has helped to restore some of the club's dignity, as they went on to reach the Coppa Italia final last year.
They're also currently 5th in the Serie A, with a game in hand over Lazio. While they are still a long way from winning the Champions League again, this does mean that there's a realistic chance of seeing them in Europe's biggest club competition for the first time since 2013.
With several young and exciting prospects in their squad like Patrick Cutrone, Alessio Romagnoli, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Franck Kessie, Lucas Paqueta and Krzysztof Piątek, Milan are on their way back up.
#1 Real Madrid (13 titles)
No team comes close to Real Madrid in Europe.
The Champions League was first introduced in 1955 as the European Cup, and Real won the first five editions under the leadership of club president Santiago Bernabeu.
In 1998, they reclaimed the title after 32 years. In 2017, they beat Juventus 4-1 in the final, becoming the first team to retain the Champions League since Milan in 1990. A year later, they won it for a third consecutive time.
Their recent success in Europe is puzzling when you consider the fact that Barcelona have dominated the domestic scene in Spain.
Zinedine Zidane became the first manager to win the title 3 consecutive times last year, and he's also only the third manager after Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti to win it thrice.
This season might just be too much for them though. Apart from the fact that Zidane resigned last summer, Madrid are also dealing with the fallout of the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus.
The Los Blancos are yet to replace the Portuguese superstar. Ronaldo's extraordinary track record in Europe might even tip the scales in Juventus' favour this season.
